Do not Overstudy

I studied in first 6 month of preparation like crazy. I used to wake up at 5.00 AM , I used to start study in early 6.00 after getting ready and used to study till 11.00 PM. I used to seat for hours straight on computer reading books, watching video lectures, practicing questions etc. I was gone crazy for GATE. I was so determined, I could study for hours straight and was able to concentrate even at 10 PM even after preparing from 6-10PM. was it right way to go ? Guess ?

NO, it is worst way to prepare for any exam. Please do not do something like this .

Now you would ask, why I’m saying please do not prepare with this passion ? because if you prepare like this it’ll hurt your health badly. I used to sit for long hours before and due to that my back started paining badly. Back pain was so severe that I could not even sit at one place without feeling the pain. Then I went to doctor and confirmed that my back pain was just due to wrong seating posture and nothing serious has happened. At the same time I was told do not sit in one place in same position for hours like this. This happened about 3 month before exam, if it had happened week before exam, I might have to forget everything. I had to spend one week taking rest before resuming studies.

So from there onward I started taking breaks in study , I started using Pomodoro technique and stopped non stop preparation. I used to study for 25 minutes & then took 10 minutes break. Out of those 10 minutes I used to spend 8 minutes in walking on terrace in sunshine for healthy vitamin D (Which I lacked due to 6 months over-study) and also started to workout every morning.

Now I’m fully recovered, some back pain is there, but according to Doctor it might take few more months to stop back pain completely. I’ve been told to do more physical activity and stop seating on Computer for hours without breaks.

So morale of the story –> Passion, Determination everything is good as long as it is not hurting you. If you are dead tomorrow your GATE rank is not going to benefit you in any way. So take care of your body, take breaks every 25 minutes unless you are giving mocks.

Check first 2 minutes of following videos ->

Video Regarding Moha 1 -> Here Krishna tells one should know where to stop and control the Moha (Desire) . Even though Moha of doing more study is good thing for exam, do not overdo it , stop after period of 25 minutes and take break. Watch Video.

Video about one should know where to stop -> In this video Krishna talks about we should know where to stop , it is not always necessary to keep going. Self restraint is also very important for life.In our case we should stop after studying for 25 minutes and take break of 10 minutes before restarting. Watch video.

Video about Patience => In this video Krishna talks about Importance of Patience (Sanyam) for success. For success patience is very important quality. For long term success one should be able to stop study after time and take break, and have patience to do that. Watch video.